Alright!! Finally we get a place to talk about our experiences w/ Rituxan!! Thanks "Thisisms"!!!!
Well it has been about 7 1/2 months since my last infusion. I have had 0 flare up since I started the treatment and I am doing really well. Alot of what I am and have been through has already been posted in the general forum. My ms started about 5 or six years ago. Mainly w/ my bladder and
optic neuritis along w/ some back pain. After seeing many Dr.'s I realized that I was going no where. I decided to o to Houston. My first Dr's visit, after seeing the neurosurgeon that suspected ms, my current Dr. mentioned Rituxan as a possible therapy. This was even before he gave me a Dx. After several visits he finally Dx ed me w/ ms. We had tried the steroid treatments and they were effective, but from what I have heard there is a maximum number of those you can receive in your lifetime. After contacting my insurance company and getting a letter of denial, he directed me to Genetech's SPOC (single point of contact) program. I believe they negotiate w/ your insurance to try and get you the drug. Well my insurance would not budge. So by some stroke of luck he got me the drug. I am not sure how all this happened, but it did. I was concerned about not getting it because between me and my wife we earn well over six figures. I was in contact w/ my Dr.'s office off and on for about 2-3 months. Finally I called the nurse who actually administers the drug and she says " glad you called because I was just about to call you." I almost started to cry. It was like the sky had parted and I could see the sun!! Well my first appointment was set. Then I started really investigating about Rituxan and the possible harmful side effects. Which there are a few. This kinda got me nervous. I arrived at the clinic to receive my first infusion and it was a large room full of lazy-boy recliners. The nurse who I had been in contact w/ greeted us at the door and told me to pick out a seat. She is a really sweet lady. She began prepping me and told me what to expect. After a few minutes of the treatment I began to feel a small scratchy feeling in my throat and my head began to itch. I thought to myself I ain't going to say anything because I had waited so long to get this and I didn't want to screw it up. About 5 minutes later my throat had began to swell and I was scratching big time, LOL. I told the nurse she had better come over and she did. I told her about my problems and she stopped the treatment and gave me a big shot of benadryl. It immediately stopped all my problems and relaxed me. After that every treatment they gave me a shot of benadryl to alleviate this.
Well this is my story of how I got Rituxan, hope to hear from others, later arti
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